11:30

Our hearts are full of such gratitude right now as we have heard that the tumor removal is over and Jared remains stable. Two surgeons from the team came out to discuss the happenings of the surgery with us and were very positive about the outcome of the surgery. The surgeons believe they have completely resected all of the cells of the tumor except for one area within a bundle of nerves that are attributed to a lot of the face and mouth functions. They did not feel that they should sacrifice these nerves to try to obtain every last cell, but do believe that the Proton Beam Radiation that will follow will be beneficial in eliminating these cells.

He should have most function of his face, but there remains a concern for the left side of his tongue and possibly double vision as he looks off to the left side (a small region). These are minor and wonderful compared to what could have happened. Our greatest concern at this moment is the blood supply to his brain. The tumor had aparentley bulged into the left carotid artery (one of four going to the brain) and a portion of that artery had to be removed. The surgeons felt that they could sacrifice that artery, as leaving the artery would have left a large portion of tumor in the area. They felt that during the operation he showed normal brain function and blood flow after the removal of this artery, but they will not know for sure until after he is alert enough to perform neurological tests. They have sealed off part of this artery temporarilly and will be placing a permanent plug prior to eliminate possible leakage that could cause an anurism. This risk is short-term. They said if Jared does fine over the next several days than he will do fine long-term.

This plugging procedure is happening now and is absolutely amazing. They insert the plug in an artery in his groin and guide it all the way to his carotid artery in his neck. This is absolutely unreal. There are risks in this procedure as there are in all of them, but we hope to hear word on this in an hour or so.

There were concerns that Jared would have to have a neck fusion, but as of now he will not. They only had to remove a small part of one of the joints in his neck/spine that the tumor had reached. They felt that the tumor had not penetrated adjacent vertibrate due to a small membrane that was still protecting them. They have him in a halo right now (for a few days) and will then remove the halo. Then they will test his neck function and decide for sure if a fusion is necessary.

There are two membranes protecting the brain - the surgeons removed the outer one where the tumor was pushing against and were able to leave the second layer. They told us this was the best case scenario.

We are very hopeful that in coming out of sedation Jared will have all of his brain function. This is our primary concern after removal of such an integral artery. The human body is amazing and is a testimony to a divine design to all of us. We are not out of the woods, but we do know that God is watching over him and us at this time. Thank you for all your prayers. We feel very grateful for the news we've heard thus far.